Low-tech Magazine

Life without airplanes: from London to New York in 3 days and 12 hours

Rising fuel prices are slowly killing airline companies. Can ocean liners save long distance travel and tourism?

Flying has become cheaper than taking a train or driving a car. Yet, environmental concerns, dwindling fuel reserves and fast rising kerosene prices are threatening to turn airline travel into a privilege for the rich again. This should not mean the end of mass travel or tourism, however. Before mass air travel took off in the 1960s, people crossed the globe in majestic passenger ships. Reintroducing ocean liners would be more than a nostalgic move: it could be a much more energy efficient (yet slower) way to travel.

The right to 35 mobiles

The high energy consumption of the mobile phone network is mainly due to the limited life span of the phones.

This week, more than 50,000 people gather in Barcelona for the ‘Mobile World Congress’, the annual high mass for the mobile telephone. They gape in admiration at the newest generation of gadgets, which is again fitted with new applications and new designs. This almost unanimously praised innovation, however, has a dark side. Around half of the energy use of the mobile phone network is attributed to the production of the phones. (artículo en español)

The world's factory hall

Almost 30 percent of energy use and 35 percent of CO2-emissions in China comes from the production of export goods.

China and India are devouring our energy resources at an ever faster pace. The greenhouse gases that are saved in western countries by installing windmills and solar panels are abundantly compensated for by the building of new coal plants in these countries. However, we don’t have clean hands.  

Water eats energy: desalination

If we fail to reduce water use, we may safely double predictions on future energy consumption.

Desalination – the process of turning seawater into fresh water - is increasingly becoming the world's solution to a growing water shortage problem. But if we count on the oceans to fulfill our future need, we have to find an extra 30.000 terawatt-hours of energy - twice the current global electricity production figure. (picture: Nicolas Metzl)

Supercomputers reach their limits

The energy consumption of supercomputers is getting out of hand.

Supercomputers are becoming ever more important in scientific research, the financial world and big business. Their processing speed keeps growing. But even if we take into account future energy-saving technologies, the electricity use of these machines will become an insurmountable obstacle in 10 to 15 years time - says Alan Gara, developer of the world’s most powerful supercomputer.

High speed trains: planes on wheels

From an ecological point of view, the strategy to move travellers from airplanes to high speed trains just doesn't make sense.

Trains are considered to be much more environmentally friendly than aircrafts. Unfortunately, they lose their ecological advantage when speed goes up. And train companies seem to be obsessed by speed.

Last week, the French high speed train (TGV) officially broke the 515 km/h speed record of 1990. An adapted high speed train of Alstom reached a speed of more than 574 kilometres an hour on the line Paris - Strasbourg (the video is on the internet).

It used 19,600 kilowatts of electricity, this is equivalent to the energy consumption of a large office building. In a statement to the press, president Chirac praised the train as "friendly for the environment". (Illustration : Popular Mechanics cover gallery)